What Comes of Rainy Days?
by buttlos
Summary: Rainy days at The Palms Woods aren t always bad, not when Twister and chocolate pudding are in tow. James/Carlos   which is slash, because i guess james/carlos isn t obvious enough. l - lol


hey bros! long time, no post. i know, i know.  
BUT I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU NOW. my very first jarlos / btr fic. ever. so if things seem a little .. off, that`s why. THERE`S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING.  
but uh. yeah. i kinda just half - assed my way through this because the idea stuck in my head and i wanted to write it all out. /shrug.  
so anyway - have fun!

oh yeah. also, dohohoho ~ there`s a supernatural reference in here.

**disclaimer:** i do not own anythiiiing. sadly.

* * *

Every teenage boy goes through that stage of uncertainty. Y`know – the one where they start to spend a little too much time with his other guy friends. That awkward feeling of "what if I just ...", those sudden day dreams of him and the ' other bro ' getting a little heated. Yeah. That awkward feeling.

Carlos Garcia had never even thought that the same feeling that has plagued so many others would make its way to him. Why him of all people? He`s not supposed to be feeling such 'awkwardness' – the helmet made him immune to it! … right? It`s the job of the helmet to keep the Latino boy protected. Apparently someone needs to get a new one. What a sad thought. He`s had this helmet for as long as he could remember, there`s no way that he needs a replacement already.

Now, it wasn`t like he was looking at every other guy that comes around and thinking, "Wow! He`s hot!" It was nothing like that. Sure, he`s thought it before, but he never meant it in ' that ' way. No homo. Girls do that all the time with other girls. If a girl is allowed to think someone of the same gender is attractive without sounding a bit homosexual, why can`t a guy do it too? Besides, it was only a certain boy with sandy brown locks and a dazzling smile that had the ability to make his stomach turn inside out with just a glance.

James Diamond has always been attractive to Carlos – he was the pretty one in the group, after all. Everyone thought he was good looking. He had never caught himself staring at another man quite so attentively before now. Everyone has stared at someone else before, sure, but, it was different now. It was starting to become creepy how often Carlos had to tell himself to stop staring, stop watching James dress, stop watching James undress, stop watching James watching James. ( He liked to look at himself in the mirror in their downtime. A lot. ) Is it even healthy to be so entranced with another person like this, let alone another guy?

It was uncertain when there feelings actually started to show up. All Carlos knew is that his throat would constrict every time he caught James` eye during rehearsals or the way he would grin when Carlos was caught looking. He found it hard to breathe every time he heard James talk. Every touch of the skin was like an electric shock sending that tingling, numbing feeling all throughout his body. Really, he would just turn into a ball of mush at skin on skin contact with the taller boy.

How cliché was this whole situation, really. How the little things were able to set the Latino off. How he was falling for his best friend. It was almost as if he were living some sappy love song and he was the girl in the story. Of course, this is just a phase. Carlos is just confused right now. … At least, that`s what he keeps telling himself. How awkward would it be for James to know that Carlos might have a thing for him? They`ve known each other for years and they knew everything about each other. Especially the fact that they are both totally into girls. Not boys. Girls.

It`s whatever though. It`ll pass. Eventually. Might as well just ignore it.

* * *

Carlos sat outside in the pool area, contemplating how he should dive into the pool today. Maybe he should just run in and jump, or a classic cannonball – or, perhaps, just stop caring and do a belly flop. Doing all three was a pretty good idea. Not all at the same time though, of course. That`s just impossible. Wouldn`t it be awesome if he could do all three at once, though? He`d definitely deserve some kind of award or special recognition for his success. Unfortunately that won`t happen, but, it`s a nice dream, none – the – less. Maybe he just shouldn`t get in at all. It was getting pretty cloudy anyway. If he remembered right, the weatherman said something about there being storms later today, so it`d be a wise choice not to get in. Who wants to swim in that kind of crap weather? Oh, but, it would be so fun, and so dangerous. The daring things are always the most fun.

For was seemed like hours, Carlos fought with himself. Should he jump? Should he just sit and relax? Should he just sit and do nothing at all, standing there in nothing but his helmet and his swimming trunks? With a huff, the boy crossed his arms, pouty face on and everything. "I hate when I can`t make up my mind," he mumbled to himself. "_Es estúpido que no puedo decidirme_."

"Hey man. Why the face?"

That only slightly caught Carlos by surprise. He couldn`t help but shriek and flinch at the sound. He had a good excuse though! He was just caught off guard, and he was in the zone. Anyone would`ve reacted that way. James only gave that ' Oh .. okay. Pffft. ', eyebrows raised, unsure, tight smile in return. You know the face. It`s not like he could judge either, since they all do that. If anything, James probably does it the most out of anybody. There`s always something to scream about with them.

"I can`t decide how I want to jump into the pool," Carlos finally said, recovering from that quick episode of terror. He threw his arms out in frustration, turning to his best friend. "Any ideas?" Can it really be this difficult to decide? Really? It`s just jumping into a pool. There are so many choices, though. So, yeah, it is hard, because you want to make sure you always choose which method is most fun for you. You also want to choose one that will get everyone else around the pool wet too, because what`s the point of even being at a pool if you`re not going to get wet, right? That`s just silly.

Strutting over to the fussing boy, James thought about the way he would want to get in, if he wanted to get in, but he doesn`t. Not today, anyway. He had just spent almost his entire morning in the bathroom messing around with his hair. It had to be just perfect, and this weather was just not agreeing to make it to James Diamond`s standards. There`s no way he would throw away all those hours and eventual triumph for some ~pool fun~. "Welp," James started, "why don`t you just try everything possible? Oh! Or you should jump from one of the trees!" The sad thing is that he was completely serious about that suggestion. The excitement of just imagining Carlos doing it was clearly written all over the pretty face. He had that adorable, wide eyed, ear to ear grin plastered on.

The other sad thing is that Carlos was seriously considering that option too. "Mmm … maybe when there are more people around. Anything else?"

The two stared at the water, contemplating every possible action they could take.

James couldn`t help but grin at the juvenile thought that had just hatched inside his brain. "How `bout I just push you in?" the taller teen suggested and gently nudged Carlos towards the pool`s edge. It`s a good thing Carlos had a nice, firm footing, otherwise it`d just be embarrassing, and he really didn`t need another reason to be laughed at today. Most days, he didn`t mind it. Everything was all just fun and games, and as long as everyone else was enjoying themselves, he was pretty content. He`s always loved making other people happy. It was sort of an inner gratification kind of thing.

"Oh, you mean like this?"

The next thing he knew, James was in the water, Carlos running off to grab their favorite water noodles. Bubbles violently surfaced the water as James came back up, his hair shaking like a dog. "Dude!" By the ' what the hell? ' tone in his voice the other had, Carlos knew that James was less than pleased, but honestly, the Latino couldn`t care less. They were having a good time, or at least Carlos was. Even if James wasn`t, he would be soon. It was pretty much guaranteed. No one can stay grumpy when a water noodle fight was hanging in the air.

"NOODLE FIGHT!"

And with that, the other boy jumped into the pool, not even caring how he looked doing it. Right now, nothing else even mattered. The rest of the Palm Woods residents disappeared in the frenzy of splashes and the blur of the noodles striking flesh. Little moments like this have always been the most treasured by Carlos. They were the same moments he remembered the best, the most vivid – the same ones he would relive over and over in his head and would still smile about many years down the line. Right now, at this point in time, Carlos couldn`t be happier.

* * *

That day at rehearsals, Carlos couldn`t keep himself focused. The whole time, he was paying attention to James more than he probably should have. Sure, watching James wasn`t exactly something new, but it was just outrageous this time around. Luckily, his singing was pretty much on autopilot. All the words and the harmonies were there, and yet Carlos was off in a world of his own. He just couldn`t get enough. This was starting to get ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as how cute it was when James would sometimes lick his lips ever so delicately before he would sing, or how his eyes would flutter closed before belting out his own little solo note. ( which probably wasn`t even in the original song. ) Just the way he smirked while he sang and the way his bangs fell into his face was, just too much for the smaller teen. James was always finding some new way to make Carlos` heart jump straight into his throat.

He was also starting to wonder if he was really a teenage girl in a boy`s body. That was the only logical explanation at this point.

It`s just not normal to be so observant about your guy best friend. Nor was it really that … normal to be describing his voice as angelic either. Sure, Carlos has always like James` voice. It was strong, solid, and he had quite a range too, but to go as far as to think it could grip him tight and raise him from perdition was quite a reach.

Eventually, enough is enough, and Carlos thought it would probably be best if he just removed himself from the scene completely before it gets any worse. Getting some fresh air is probably a good idea too. Clearing his brain, maybe eat some pudding – it was all sounding better and better by the minute.

"Uh – can I leave? My stomach hurts," Carlos yelled suddenly as he dropped his headphones onto his shoulders.

A break? In the middle of rehearsals? Oh hell no. Gustavo wouldn`t have that. Not while he`s alive and kicking. So, it was really no surprise that he`d get angry at such a ludicrous request, and angry was just an understatement. The group braced themselves because, oh, they knew that Gustavo Rocque wouldn`t go a single day without having something to yell at the dogs for.

"Sure, Carlos, you can have a break," he started, in that calm, regular voice he had. Too bad it was only used to give them false hope before he totally crushed them with words. Carlos grinned and nodded in thanks as he started to run towards the door. Of course, he didn`t get far before James grabbed him by the back of his shirt, stopping him so he could hear the rest of Gustavo`s harsh words. "- when you guys stop STINKING UP MY STUDIO WITH SEMI – DECENT SINGING!"

Oh. Right. He should`ve known better than to think he would actually be let go before their singing time was done. With a sigh and a slight hanging of his head, Carlos moped back to his spot, carrying on with his singing. This time, he was careful to keep his eyes locked on the mic in front of his face Guess life would just be too easy if things always went your way.

Boy, was it torture trying to train his eyes to stay fixated on something that wasn`t James. Probably one of the toughest things he`s ever had to do in his young life, and what sweet relief came over him the moment those long minutes in the cramped studio were over. No more trying to avoid staring, no more constant reminders to look ahead, not to the side, and especially, no more feelings of stress. He was sure his eyeballs were about to explode from how hard he was straining himself to keep from looking at James. Why did this have to be so tough? Briefly he wondered if girls had the same problem when they get a crush on someone.

Then again, it`s always more acceptable when a girl does something like that. They can do no wrong, apparently. They have the okay to go ahead and flirt when the boy catches them staring. Girls can smile their pretty little smiles, and wiggle their fingers in a wave. Flirting, basically, in case that wasn`t clear. Girls can flirt with their guy crushes. Guys can`t exactly do that with their totally straight guy crush. It`d be too weird.

Picture it: they`re at rehearsals again. Carlos and James catch each other`s eye. Cue the ' pretty little smile ' and the wiggling finger wave from Carlos. That`s totally not awkward at all. Picturing it was embarrassing enough. For one, even if he _was_ a girl, he still wouldn`t do that. It`s something flirty girls do and Carlos doesn`t really know how to ' flirt '. He`s a more straight – to – the – point kind of guy. Two, James is such a ladies man. There`s no way that he would settle for just one girl.

Carlos wouldn`t be like every other girl out at The Palm Woods either, that`s for sure. He`d be the swirly slide riding, helmet wearing, hockey loving chick who can sing and is super cute. See? A unique girl and it`s one hundred percent Carlos Garcia.

That`s the thing though. Every single thing about the girl he would be is _all_ Carlos. If she were real, he would totally go for that. Why not James? Not to be conceited or anything, but why can`t he see how awesome his best friend really is?

James sees this as a totally platonic friendship, that`s why.

Again, it`s whatever though.

Now that they`re all out of Gustavo`s hair, they needed something to do. Something that would take Carlo`s mind of of everything. He didn`t want to become one of those people who sits and thinks about something depressing for too long and ends up alone, in their room, wallowing around in self pity.

"Okay – someone needs to say something, because this is seriously DRIVING ME INSANE!" James finally broke the heavy silence between the group. Seriously, he could not handle quiet. Even when they`re all lying down to sleep, he`s make some sort of soft beat on his stomach. It was kind of like white noise to him. Yeah, sometimes it drove Logan and Kendall through the roof, but Carlos thought it was nice to fall asleep to. Especially when a small melody would drift from the other`s plush lips, like a self sung lullaby. It was cute.

"Well there`s no much we can do outside, considering it`s raining cats and dogs out there." Clever observation Logan.

"Who said we had to go out there? There`s plenty we can do in here. We do stuff all the time, remember?"

"Like? We`ve already done everything we can do today."

"Hey!" Carlos interrupted with a bright smile and a snap. A snap people so when they get an idea. "My papi just sent me that one game, Twister. We could play that!" Apathetic looks all around. "Oh come on, it`ll be like when we were kids!"

It really crushed the others to see Carlos so enthusiastic about something – not knowing that he`s going to get all mopey when things don`t go how he was hoping. "Sorry Carlos," Kendall started as he put a hand on the other`s shoulder, "but that`s not really something I would really feel comfortable playing with just us guys – no offense." Oh. That`s understandable. How often do guys play twister with guys and guys alone?

"Yeah, I`ll have to agree with Kendall on this one," Logan chimed in. That would be kind of weird to see should Camille or Jo accidentally walk in. They`ve all had their share of those kinds of moments.

"I think I`m just gonna go see what Jo is up to," Kendall said as he started towards the elevator. "I`ll catch you guys later." With that, he and Logan were gone. They had decided that whatever Jo was up to, Camille was more than likely with her, so might as well bring Logan along. It`d be easier that way.

So there stood Carlos and James, slightly dumbfounded and damn, did Carlos have the most pathetic face the taller has ever seen. It was heartbreaking. Not even a crying girl was as sad as Carlos looks now.

"I`ll play with you," James insisted suddenly. It was kind of a shock to both of them, but he really didn`t want to see his best friend like that. The glee filled face he just got in return was well worth it too. Besides, what else does he have to do?

That`s when it hit Carlos like a ton of bricks. He`s going to be playing Twister with his best friend and ' boy crush ', with no one else around. ( Mrs. Knight and Katie were out of town for the day. ) Never had he felt such an odd combination of nausea, excitement, and fright. None of that mattered now thought. Only a fool would turn that down.

* * *

It was awkward. Oh, was it awkward. Two teenage boys fumbling around and over and under each other, their limbs bumping and intertwining at strange angles. Their bodies were in positions they didn`t think were physically possible and were twisting like they were some wet towel being wrung out. Neither of them knew that they could bend they way that they were. They didn`t know you could play Twister with only two people either, but they managed to do it. It was kind of nice, actually, that they could play a game like this together and not have things be totally weird between them. It was hard, yes, but nice.

The position they were in at the moment wasn`t exactly terrible or anything. James was practically propping Carlos up with his back. To try and describe the scene in detail would be pretty useless. It`s something you`d just have to see. It was ridiculous, but not too embarrassing like they`ve seen before. It was nothing like that. They were just two boys having a pretty good time. James never would`ve guessed that he`d be enjoying himself as much as he is now. He also would`ve never guessed how limber Carlos was. It was surprising and yet it was completely expected. The boy was amazing what he could do with his body, and it made James curious what he would be like in bed.

Not that he wanted to experience it or anything. He was just curious. Doesn`t everyone have those kinds of thoughts about their friends at some point? Hell, he`s sixteen years old, it`s a given he`d be a bit gutter minded. No one`s immune to that.

For a moment, he forgets about the situation he`s in and wonders how often Carlos has ' dirty thoughts ' and loses his footing, making both of them topple over. Oh well. They have to come down at some point in time. Now James was pretty sure that he _was_ holding up his friend that whole time. He didn`t mind and it made sense why it took a bit more strength to keep himself up.

"Dude, I totally won that. You were _so_ cheating," James said peeking over his shoulder to glance at the other fumbling boy. "What? That`s not true," he got in reply. The smaller boy rolled off his human table, dusting himself off. Preposterous! Carlos would do no such thing … but exceptions are always made now and then. In his defense, he couldn`t help himself. James hasn`t been able to fix himself up in the bathroom since the pool thing earlier. The sandy hair that was usually full of Cuda products was now Cuda free, poofy and came out in little wisps out and around his face. Despite the fact that the chlorine was still on the boy`s skin, his natural scent was able to overpower the chemical. None of the guys have ever seen James so 'un-pretty' like this, which is a totally untrue statement, because he was insanely adorable, it was fantastic. He smelled great. The Latino would`ve been more than okay with staying like that for the rest of eternity if that choice was given to him. So yeah, he might`ve been resting himself on James, but he was too weak in the knees to keep himself up otherwise.

"You so were! I have to hold you up and that is SO not fair." He might`ve been yelling, but he was far from upset. Strangely enough, he was okay with holding Carlos up like that.

"Okay fine," Carlos admitted with a huff and plopped his helmet back onto his head. He was quick to change the subject. "All that bending made me hungry. Let`s eat!" Putting on that signature smile, he trotted over to the fridge. There wasn`t much there that they could eat without having to cook or heat in some kind of way. It was an unspoken rule that while Mrs. Knight was out, the boys weren`t to touch the stove or the oven. Or the microwave. At least there was pudding, which always made everything so much better.

They sat on the couch enjoying their pudding, watching Jersey Shore, reminiscing about the time they had mansion sat for Gustavo, and of course, the Hollywood Fever. Carlos couldn`t help but point out that James could`ve moved out to Jersey Shore during his little ... epidemic, earning him a nice pudding smear down his cheek. It was a nice addition to the splotches that already dotted the area around his mouth.

"You got a little, uh...," James joked, pointing to his own mouth, which was completely pudding free, by the way. What was just a little, harmless joke at first turned into something completely different that moment Carlos gave that blank, but insanely cute face back.

The two shared stares for just a moment, a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, and that`s all it took for James to lean over and kiss away all those pudding smears that were just so inviting.

Even now, he isn`t sure why he did what he did.

Carlos could swear butterflies just burst out of his stomach. Time froze, and he wasn`t sure what he should do. Those brown eyes widening, blinking a mile a minute.

Is this real life? All of this is happening, right? James` hand resting gently on his surprisingly toned chest, that tongue sneaking every now and then to lick away the chocolate mess, to taste the Latino skin underneath. This is bliss, and it would be wise to stop questioning these things, because he can feel himself being slightly weighted down, being lowered so that the two are lying on the couch. That hand was still pressed against his chest, James hovering over him, his other hand holding his own body up careful not to crush the smaller teen.

Lips glided over the tan skin, making their way to the other`s where they rested, hesitant to do anything else. He was too scared to go further, afraid of rejection.

Retreating a bit, James just stayed there, watching Carlos` face, worrying if he just made the biggest mistake of his life. Tension hung in the air, thick and heavy like the wet snows back in Minnesota. It was a bit too much, and James definitely considered digging a hole and burying himself in it. He just couldn`t take the silence.

"Sorry …," the older finally said as he sat up, hiding his hands behind his back. "I don`t really know why I did that and you probably hate me now and -"

"No, no!" Carlos quickly interjected. He held himself up on his elbows, looking frantic once more. "No, I … I liked it," he continued, his voice lowering slightly. Embarrassed? Totally. Ashamed? Absolutely not. "Do it again…" It wasn`t a suggestion, it wasn`t really a command, just a sort of longing for something that he can finally have.

It took a second for James to process what was just said. He sat, blinking, confused and damn, there`s that pathetic face again. There was a different tone to it this time, but it was still painful to see. Why was he so good that that? Luckily, he didn`t need to be told twice to do something he wanted to do. With a grin spreading wide on his face, the taller happily obliged. Those hands Carlos was always so fond of now cupped his face, and he was sure he died and gone to heaven. Eyes fluttered closed and lips met again, and sparks flew. Oh, did Carlos ever enjoy this. He wanted to just keep kissing the other boy and never stop. He wanted to kiss those insanely soft lips until they were black and blue, but he thought it was probably wise to take these things slowly, carefully. No need to just rush in.

Never had either of the boys loved the taste of chocolate as much as they do now. Never had they been so grateful for chocolate pudding and rainy days. They loved it before, they sure as hell love it now, and they can definitely see themselves doing this again in the very near future.

So, yeah. There are plenty of things to do on a rainy day at The Palm Woods. You just gotta make your own fun, and Twister and chocolate pudding always come in handy.


End file.
